Oakland A's announce negotiations for Mesa move

New tenant possible for Hohokam Stadium

by Gary Nelson - Nov. 28, 2011 10:01 PMThe Republic|azcentral.com

The Oakland Athletics baseball club has begun exclusive negotiations with Mesa for use of Hohokam Stadium as early as 2015.

The team's announcement Monday is a giant step toward answering the biggest question left by Mesa voters' approval of a new Chicago Cubs' stadium last year: What happens to the city's multimillion-dollar investment in Hohokam and other baseball facilities at nearby Fitch Park after the Cubs leave?

If it leads to the A's moving to Mesa, it will create the same kind of question for Phoenix, centering on the half-century-old Phoenix Municipal Stadium, where the A's have trained since 1982.

Rob Harman, deputy parks director for Phoenix, said it was way too early to speculate on what the city might do with an empty stadium.

"We're still hopeful that Oakland will be at Municipal Stadium," Harmon said. "But we understand, that's the ways of the Cactus League."

A press release issued by the A's said the negotiating period began Monday and lasts through May15.

Ted Polakowski, who directs the team's Arizona operations, said the A's will closely observe how Hohokam and Fitch function during the coming spring-training season to assess the feasibility of moving, as well as the need for facility upgrades.

The Cubs are scheduled to use Hohokam through 2013 and move to Mesa's Riverview area in 2014. The A's are committed to staying in Phoenix through 2014,Polakowski said.

That would create a one-year window during which Hohokam and Fitch could be outfitted for the A's. Mesa City Manager Chris Brady said it's possible some of Hohokam's 12,500 seats could be removed to create a more intimate atmosphere for the A's, who drew about 5,000 people per home game this year.

Harman and Polakowski said the A's and Phoenix have had an outstanding relationship. But Phoenix Muni has fallen behind newer Cactus League venues.

"We recognize that Phoenix Municipal Stadium is the oldest stadium in the Cactus League," Harman said.

Phoenix has tried to keep it fresh, the most recent major effort being a $6.4million face-lift in 2004. But, Polakowski said, "the infrastructure of that facility is still 1964."

Phoenix Muni is in line for $3.7million for renovations from the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority.

An additional $8million is on tap for Hohokam, possibly cushioning the cost to Mesa of absorbing another Cactus League team.

The authority, however, has no money to build new stadiums.

Both the A's and Mesa officials, including Mayor Scott Smith, took pains to point out that it was the team that approached Mesa, rather than the city looking to cannibalize the Cactus League to fill its stadium.

"We made that first phone call," Polakowski said.

The present Hohokam Stadium is the third Mesa-owned facility to be used by the Cubs during their on-and-off 60-year relationship with the city. It opened in 1997 and cost $28million, about $10million of which came from the regional sports authority and the rest from Mesa.

Brady said several big-league teams, including some from Florida's Grapefruit League, have toured Hohokam. "Every team that came through has been amazed at the condition of our facilities," Brady said.

Beginning in 2009, the Cubs flirted with offers from Florida business interests before accepting Mesa's offer of an $84million baseball complex on the site of Riverview Golf Course near the interchange of Loops 101 and 202.

That gives the Cubs enough room to develop a "Wrigleyville" entertainment complex for which there is no room at Hohokam.

A's owner Lew Wolff has other business interests in Mesa, most notably the Hyatt Place hotel in the Riverview shopping complex.

Polakowski said because of that and Arizona's proximity to Oakland, the A's have not contemplated leaving the Cactus League.

Polakowski and Brady credited Robert Brinton, president of the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau and a former Cactus League president, with bringing Mesa and the A's together.

Brinton died unexpectedly in his office on Oct. 21 at age 60.

"The day before he passed away I had a long conversation with him in terms of taking this step and moving our operations to Mesa," Polakowski said.

If Oakland moves to Hohokam, it will be a homecoming of sorts. The team trained in Mesa for 10 years beginning in 1969 before moving to Scottsdale and then to Phoenix.